DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A naval maritime authority overseen by the U.S. Navy announced Saturday that a shipping lane running through the Strait of Hormuz, near the coast of Oman, is being widened to accommodate vessels traveling in both directions.
The declaration by the Joint Maritime Information Center adds to growing pressure on Iran, signaling that the United States is actively working to restore full access through the strategically vital waterway.
Iran has taken an aggressive stance, demanding that ships comply with its instructions and threatening to impose transit fees on vessels passing through the strait — a passage that once carried one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supply.
The United States and Gulf Arab nations have flatly rejected Iran’s demands. While the strait runs through the territorial waters of both Iran and Oman, it is widely recognized internationally as a global waterway open to all nations.
The maritime developments unfolded on the same day Iran launched a drone assault against Bahrain, while a separate vessel in the Strait of Hormuz came under attack — moves widely viewed as Tehran’s retaliation for overnight U.S. airstrikes.
The flare-up across the Persian Gulf underscores the fragile and dangerous nature of the ongoing conflict, even as Iran and the U.S. have reached a temporary agreement intended to pave the way for a permanent resolution.
The U.S. airstrikes were themselves a response to an Iranian drone attack Thursday on a ship attempting to exit the strait — the latest in a series of incidents that have strained an already shaky ceasefire.
Iran’s choice to target Bahrain appeared deliberate. The small Gulf kingdom has been among Iran’s most vocal critics and serves as the home base for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. Bahrain had just hosted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a gathering of Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers, which concluded with a unified call for Iran to halt its attacks and allow unrestricted passage through the strait.
Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement confirming that “a number of Iranian drones” had struck the country, describing the assault as “a flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents.”
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard released a statement earlier Saturday through the state-run IRNA news agency, claiming it had struck multiple locations belonging to “the U.S. terrorist army in the region,” though it did not specify which sites were hit.
Separately, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported that a tanker was struck Saturday while in the strait. Officials said the crew was unharmed and no environmental damage occurred. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the tanker attack, though suspicion quickly turned toward Iran.
